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Published: August 28th 2006
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Hi all
Bit of a varied week this week as spent the first part with Monks and then the second part of the week in the biggest red light district in Thailand!
On Monday with had a day learning about Buddhism and Monks and things. Not wildly exciting but got a background on the religion and decided it is more of a way of life than a religion here and I must say it is far simpler than other religions with quite a basic story of how it started and the general facts about it. Although when we watched a video someone had managed to get hold of a copy of the Daily Express which I read throughout as found this far more interesting. On Tuesday we were off to start our stay at the Monastary with the monks. Arrived at the most delapitated one I have ever seen which was a bit of a disappontment as all the ones we have visited prior have been beautiful. Anyway we were shown to our rooms which consisted of 3 smallish rooms between the 25 of us and were basically just marble floors where we would be sleeping and a nasty bathroom
(which came with cockroaches). Monks really do not do alot! Had lunch there (veg & rice) and this would be our last meal of the day as Monks do not eat after 12pm so we all had few helpings to see us through. We then went to the temple and did some meditating which involved first of all sitting crossed leg on the floor with your hands in a certain position and closing your eyes and thinking of nothing for about 30 minutes, but like true Westerners this is not a natural position of us at our age to be sitting in for a long time so we were soon all fidgeting like a bunch of kids and having to stretch our legs out without the monks seeing us (rude to point your feet towards an image of a Budda and they were everywhere). After this we then did walking meditation which was weird, you stand on the spot with your hands behind your back and say 3 times "Intending to walk" then you walk at snails pace up the room to "lift, forward, place, lift, forward place" then you close (put your feet together) once at the end of
the room and say 3 times "intending to turn", then turn slowly and start the whole process over again for about 30 minutes which seems like forever. Then it was just sitting around not doing alot until time for evening chanting where we just sat and watched the monks chanting something in Thai so meant nothing to us. Basically the monks live at the Monastarys and must follow Precepts which are like our 10 commandments except they have over 200 they must obey they can not do anything that brings them pleasure (what fun!), they own nothing and rely soley on donations from the public as not allowed money and to buy anything. From what we could work out they stay at the Monastarys and just pray abit, meditate and chant, occasionally they are asked to go and bless a house and this is about it. I am not surprised there are not many homeless people in Thailand as you can just become a monk and have a free life. It sounds awful but we did not come out with a great impression of them although they are the most respected people in the country and just to confirm they
are definatley not randy (please inform Nan to put her mind at rest). Had the worst nights sleep there and left after lunch the next day after more meditating etc and were very pleased to return to the Eco House. The next day we were taken to a lovely resort hotel where we spent the day by the pool and then myself and Karen decided we would go for a bike ride which I will never again do in this heat (or be able to sit for a while). On the Friday we visited a zoo which was interesting, mainly Lions and Tigers with a few other animals thrown in (not literally). There was a cage with lion cubs (quite large ones) and a tiger and you could pay 20 baht (about 30p) to go in and play with them! Me being the sensible person I am decided to pass on this however Karen, Kate and Emma decided this would be good and in they went. All was good for a while whilst they petted the cubs and I stood outside taking loads of photos, but then the lady in charge of the animals told the girls to go and
stand next to the Tiger for their photo which they did. Just as the photo was being taken the Tiger decided he liked the look of Kates leg and put his mouth round it, she was surprisingly calm and stood there very stilll saying every swear word she could think of which basically translated as "get the animal off me". Luckily it seemed to be only playing and only dented her skin and did not break it but it was very scary and she came out of the cage with the others rather quickly. Anyway it was a good day out and Kate liked the fact that she could tell people she had been bitten by a Tiger.
We had a free weekend coming up before we set off to Ko Samet on the Monday so everyone decided they were going to go off and do various things for a couple of nights. Eight of us decided to go to Pattaya for the weekend as on the way to Ko Samet and would break the journey and also it said in the guide book that it was a bit of a party town and we were all craving a
bit of nightlife. At this point I would like to mention that myself, Karen, Kate and Stacey had not been there when the guide book was being read and were just told the basic information so agreed to go along with it as sounded good. We booked a hotel and set off on the bus early Saturday morning. We arrived in Pattaya mid afternoon and had managed to read up on the place on the way and found out that it is basically the biggest red light district in Thailand. Not sure why we ended up there as we were about the only group of western girls as the rest of the population consisted of prostitutes and single western men (not many English though I am pleased to say). We walked down one road and there were just bars and millions of Thai girls sitting outside offering whatever you wanted. There also seemed to be a high population of ex pats which were middle aged men all attached to young Thai girls it was quite disturbing. However we did have a good laugh as there were some good bars with live music so we could glam up and have a dance. It is the most seedy place I have ever been to in my life though and the shock of it was that there were some familys there and it would be the last place on earth I would take a child to. Basically if you are there and are a girl it is assumed you are a prostitute which did have it's funny moments as Stacey one of our group was approached by a middle eastern man who asked for her business card and saying he was very rich! At least I know where to go if my money runs short (only joking).
Anyway it is Monday and have now arrived in Ko Samet and we are all staying in a place right on the beach which is wonderful as have a whole week ahead of lazing on the beach and topping up the tan. The place we are staying in seems quite nice as we have just had dinner sitting on mats on the beach with candles which was nice. The rooms are pretty small with 2 single beds up against each other as such a tiny room and a basic bathroom with a western toilet (thank good) which is so high up my legs don't touch the floor when I sit on it! Not sure what thats all about but never mind. Sharing with Karen again which is good as we are comfortable enough with each other to not mind the bed situation although others are not so pleased. Off now to have beer and then a very early night as far too much partying the last 2 nights and not much sleep.
Take care and will write again soon.
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